Shawn Alladio
02-13-2007, 06:37 AM
Ocean Games to find top waterman
By Brad Sherman, Sports Editor
Surfers surf. Paddlers paddle.
Watermen do it all and the Tropical Energy Ocean Games is designed to find the best one.
The event, scheduled for Thursday through next Monday at Hookipa Beach Park, will have competition in five divisions – shortboard surfing, longboard surfing, stand-up paddling, windsurfing and kitesurfing – and will crown winners in each discipline, as well as an overall champion.
“Being a waterman is being able to approach any of the sports and handle the ocean in all its capacities,’’ said event organizer Tristan Boxford.
Among the scheduled competitors is tow-in surfing pioneer Derrick Doerner, Professional Windsurfing Association Hall of Famer Robby Naish, and Pete Cabrinha, who won the Billabong XXL Big Wave Award in 1994 for riding a 70-footer at “Jaws.’’ Two other finalists for that award, Archie Kalepa and Ian Walsh, are also entered in the Ocean Games.
Legendary big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton has also been invited, although his appearance has not been confirmed.
In all, the elite division has over 40 scheduled competitors.
Each entrant’s top three scores from the five divisions will count in the race for the overall title. The champion will receive a Jeep 4x4.
“It will be kind of like the pentathlon in the Olympics,’’ Boxford said.
The event will have more than the biggest names in water sports, however there will also be open and wahine divisions.
“Instead of just having the professional contest and saying, ’Who’s going to win from that group?’ we wanted to have something for everyone,’’ Boxford said.
Boxford, a former top-five finisher on windsurfing’s World Championship Tour, hopes to create a festival atmosphere, with food, music, artwork and a luau. He said that some of the competitors are also musicians, and might play during the event.
Information on the schedule, and how to register, is available at tropicalenergy.com.
Brad Sherman is at sports@mauinews.com
By Brad Sherman, Sports Editor
Surfers surf. Paddlers paddle.
Watermen do it all and the Tropical Energy Ocean Games is designed to find the best one.
The event, scheduled for Thursday through next Monday at Hookipa Beach Park, will have competition in five divisions – shortboard surfing, longboard surfing, stand-up paddling, windsurfing and kitesurfing – and will crown winners in each discipline, as well as an overall champion.
“Being a waterman is being able to approach any of the sports and handle the ocean in all its capacities,’’ said event organizer Tristan Boxford.
Among the scheduled competitors is tow-in surfing pioneer Derrick Doerner, Professional Windsurfing Association Hall of Famer Robby Naish, and Pete Cabrinha, who won the Billabong XXL Big Wave Award in 1994 for riding a 70-footer at “Jaws.’’ Two other finalists for that award, Archie Kalepa and Ian Walsh, are also entered in the Ocean Games.
Legendary big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton has also been invited, although his appearance has not been confirmed.
In all, the elite division has over 40 scheduled competitors.
Each entrant’s top three scores from the five divisions will count in the race for the overall title. The champion will receive a Jeep 4x4.
“It will be kind of like the pentathlon in the Olympics,’’ Boxford said.
The event will have more than the biggest names in water sports, however there will also be open and wahine divisions.
“Instead of just having the professional contest and saying, ’Who’s going to win from that group?’ we wanted to have something for everyone,’’ Boxford said.
Boxford, a former top-five finisher on windsurfing’s World Championship Tour, hopes to create a festival atmosphere, with food, music, artwork and a luau. He said that some of the competitors are also musicians, and might play during the event.
Information on the schedule, and how to register, is available at tropicalenergy.com.
Brad Sherman is at sports@mauinews.com